Are robots going to take over? Is artificial intelligence going to eradicate jobs within fashion? Is the fashion industry ever going to catch up with digital innovation? These are just some of the burning questions that will be examined on this unique short course at IFA Paris. Blending theoretical and practical learning together within the disciplines of fashion and technology, your one-week intense journey will introduce you to the latest innovations that are disrupting the fashion industry. You will be guided through a series of debates to expand your analytical and critical thinking, as well as the opportunity to get hands-on with machinery and software to ignite your creativity and technical skillset. You will explore and see technology themes such as 3D printing, fashion computer science, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence.

Course Objectives

Provide participants with foundational subject knowledge of the fashion tech discipline, which continual critical thinking will be applied throughout the course on how technologies will disrupt the fashion system at present and the future.

Introduce participants to technologies such as 3D printing and Internet of Things (IoT) through a series of intense hands-on masterclasses.

Expand participants’’ awareness of the roles within the fashion industry beyond traditional archetypes like ‘fashion scientist’, and how current roles are being impacted through advancements such as automation.

Develop participants’ perspectives on digital innovation strategies and the place of technological advancements across a multitude of disciplines within the global environment.

Course Outcomes

You will complete the course with an experimental portfolio including a physical 3D prototype, work-in-progress programming and 3D digital files that you may wish to develop further outside of the course, and new knowledge of fashion tech innovations.

Course Structure

This short course is for beginners and no previous experience is required. However, a deep interest in both fashion and the technical aspects of technology is required to gain the most from the course. Students will have access to workshop machinery through a partnering fab lab* and are encouraged to work on developing their skills outside of scheduled sessions. The course will cover:

Day 1: Fashion Tech: What, Why and How?

This short course commences by deep diving into exactly what is fashion tech, why is it relevant to today’s society and how is it being launched onto the market. You will gain insights and a macro overview to industry advancements before getting your creative ideas flowing in product discovery workshops, culminating into a hypothesis that you may wish to explore for the remainder of the short course. Methodologies traditionally deployed in technology developments will be applied to the fashion design and development process, thus providing you with a foundational framework for the week. The goal here is to get you to be forward future thinking!

Day 2: 3D Masterclass

Day 2 is a practical taster into everything 3D. You will be taken on a 3D journey in how to design and prototype a 3D model using 3D printers. Here, you will explore the potential capabilities of rapid prototyping and how designers can capitalize on technological advancements to aid the design and product development process. Possibilities are endless: will you make a shoe? A piece of jewelry? A bag? There are no rules and the aim of this session is to pique your curiosity with the latest machinery. You will leave with a 3D printed prototype and CAD files, which you will be able to work on in your own free time.

Day 3: Fashion Computer Science

Mid-week you will really experience the convergence of fashion and technology in a one-day masterclass of practical workshops in computer science and its capabilities within a fashion context. Companies such as Farfetch and Stitch Fix are much hyped about; will you envision the next unicorn perhaps? Participants will be guided through basic computer programing languages such as Python and taken through a series of exercises to encourage thinking about how computing and data science could advance the fashion ecosystem.

Day 4: Fashion tech and innovation within the fashion system

Technology is a tool ultimately, and tools help innovators to solve problems in complex problems. Day 4 dissects the fragmented fashion system and supply chain, in which the 4th industrial revolution is solving many of these complex problems. You will be taken through theoretical debates, encouraging you to think about the future of fashion, which you will then conduct practical workshops on how to launch fashion-tech products onto the market. The fashion industry needs individuals to shake it up and really disrupt the traditional paradigm, which this day will hopefully inspire you to do.

Day 5: Innovation Challenge

The final day of the course challenges you to innovate by drawing upon all of the week’s learnings, new knowledge, and inspirational thoughts. You will be set an innovation challenge by one of IFA Paris’ industry partners, which you will work in teams to experiment, ideate and conclude in viable solutions. The goal of the challenge is to get you thinking outside of the box and break the rules of what we know about fashion. As future fashion pioneers, you will be encouraged to bring your fresh ideas to the table without limits. The day will close by presenting your ideas and celebrating the successful completion of an intense and rewarding week.

Requirements

Recommended level of English is IELTS 5.5 (to fully understand and follow the course). The IELTS certificate is not required, but we just want to be certain that you will be able to comprehend the course.